


The Smiles Returning

by finkpishnets



Category: Bandom, The Like, Young Veins
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-17
Updated: 2010-06-17
Packaged: 2017-10-28 12:52:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/308067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/finkpishnets/pseuds/finkpishnets
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Z adopts Ryan and introduces him to Tennessee. The End.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Smiles Returning

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from The Beatles ‘Here Comes the Sun’.

Alex is hosting a party - the loud, crowded sort that ends with public, drunken sex and broken furniture - and normally Ryan would be at least attempting to enjoy himself, but tonight he can’t seem to find anyone interesting to talk to and the beer is cheap enough to make him gag.

Jon’s still in Chicago with Cassie, and though they talk pretty much everyday about writing schedules and studio time, Ryan can’t wait until he’s in L.A. and they can start working properly. There’s an itch under his fingertips that won’t go away until he’s in a practice space, playing his guitar for too long and forgetting what sleep feels like.

Plus, he pretty much just misses Jon’s stupid face. It’s entirely unfair that his girlfriend should keep him in Illinois for so long.

There’s nowhere to sit so Ryan braves the too crowded, too loud kitchen, searching for something better to drink and coming up empty. He’s considering the benefits of sobriety and how long he’ll actually be able to survive the night without being at least mildly inebriated when he realizes someone’s watching him.

There’s a very pretty girl wearing a very short dress sitting on the island countertop, long hair pushed behind her ears, staring at Ryan, and he’s pretty sure she wasn’t there a minute ago.

“Hello,” she says with a grin that suggests she knows all the secrets of the universe. “Who’re you?”

“Ryan,” he tells her, leaning forward to be heard over the noise. “Ryan Ross.”

“Hi Ryan Ross,” she says, offering up a hand for him to shake. “I’m Z Berg.”

 

+

 

Ryan and Z sit under the stairs and talk about music and literature and life, and it’s the most fun he’s had at a party in ages. Z’s smart and dry and knows more about music than anyone else in the place, and, when her hair brushes against his arm, he wonders vaguely whether she’d let him kiss her. She looks at him then, her eyes narrowed slightly like she knows exactly what he’s thinking, and Ryan smiles, because, yeah, it was a stupid idea.

She smiles back and continues talking about guitar chords and Ryan has the feeling that he’s just passed some kind of test.

He doesn’t think he’s ever really been friends with a girl before – everything’s always been shrouded by the possibility of sex – but he’s pretty sure that, over the space of an evening, Z’s adopted him as one.

It’s kind of nice.

 

+

 

When they wake up the next morning, Z’s head on his shoulder and the house quiet accept for the chorus of several people’s snores, it’s calm and easy.

“We should get breakfast,” Z says, yawning, and she looks as beautiful in the early light, her mascara smudged beneath her eyes, as she did the night before. Ryan isn’t sure why he doesn’t want to sleep with her, but he’s also pretty certain he’d follow her anywhere so he nods his head and crawls out of their hiding space, trying not to fall over the myriad of bodies.

“I fancy pancakes,” Z says as she digs out her red high heels from beneath the coffee table. “Also, I have band practice later. You should come meet the others!”

“Okay,” Ryan says, because there’s really no other answer.

 

+

 

They walk to a diner Z suggests, their feet bare against the warming cement, shoes in hand, and sit outside with their sunglasses on. They take their time eating, until Z points out that they’re late, including him in the sentiment, and they catch a cab to The Like’s practice space.

“We’ve just started seriously on our new record,” Z says, and Ryan thinks he remembers her talking about it the night before. “It’s our first with Annie and Laena. We’re sort of really excited.”

“Cool,” Ryan says, because he knows the thrill of playing with new people mixed with the dread that it won’t work out.

“There’s Tenn,” Z says, smiling softly. “Tennessee. She’s our drummer.”

Tennessee is as tall as Ryan and wearing a white, lacy dress straight out of a vintage flea market. Her shoes are almost flat, the barest hint of a heel, but they clack across the floor as she walks towards them and it makes Ryan smile a little at the way she seems to be keeping a perpetual beat.

“Z!” Tennessee says, scooping her up in her arms and swinging her around as the smaller girl laughs. “Laena’s going for smoothies. Place all orders immediately.”

“Ooh,” Z sighs happily, extricating herself from the hug and running outside, presumably in search of Laena. Ryan wonders if she’ll get him anything or if the lure of ice-cold liquidized fruit is enough to push hospitality out of the window.

He turns back to Tennessee who’s watching him curiously, head tilted to one side.

“Hey,” he says, “I’m Ryan.”

“Hi,” Tennessee says, and narrows her eyes, staring into his with freakish concentration before leaning back and smiling widely. “Did you know your eyes change color even when you’re standing still?”

“Um,” Ryan says. “No?”

“Most people’s don’t,” she says earnestly in an English accent. “Most people need a change of light or a change of mood or something. But yours do. That’s very awesome.”

“Thanks?” he says, and wonders how a simple introduction got so far away from him.

She smiles again, big and sincere. “You’re welcome.”

Z comes back eventually, half apologizing for running off whilst simultaneously introducing him to Annie, and then the girls start setting up their instruments, warming up their voices, and Ryan finds a table to sit on at the back of the room. Z keeps looking his way, her smile warm, and Ryan finds himself smiling back easily.

 

+

 

Ryan finds himself with barely any free time over the next few weeks. Apparently, once Z’s decided you’re worthy, she throws herself into friendship head first, so much so that Ryan often forgets he’s only known her a little while.

“Laena’s found a retro drive-in movie theatre,” Z says as soon as he answers his phone, mumbling a _hello_ and trying to ignore how the clock next to his bed says seven a.m. “They’re showing _North by Northwest_ tonight at nine. I’ll pick you up on the way.”

She hangs up before he gives her an answer, and Ryan supposes she already knows he’ll go. Z’s a whirlwind, the very definition of a social butterfly, only she keeps the group of people around her small and close and Ryan can see the appeal in that. She’ll take him to a stylish bar with overpriced cocktails one night and then drag them all bowling the next, wearing an old-fashioned team jacket to match Tennessee’s that they found in some thrift store years ago, and the two of them will only go by Betty and Marge – the names embroidered in black on the pink satin – for the rest of the night.

It’s casual and easy and the sort of friendship he’s only really known three times in his life.

He spends the rest of the morning curled up in bed watching daytime TV until Jon sends him a text quoting _The Breakfast Club_ and Ryan has the urge to watch it too. He phones Jon, makes him start the movie again, and the two of them talk along with the characters until the credits start to roll and Jon has to go get ready for some show he’s taking Cassie to.

He sticks a lasagna in the microwave, eats it whilst checking his twitter feed, and then takes a long shower. He’s just finished throwing on a clean shirt when there’s the obnoxious sound of a car horn outside and he has to rush down so his neighbors won’t begin to hate him.

Z laughs when he frowns at her, sliding into the passenger seat, and she’s wearing her heart shaped sunglasses even though it’s starting to get dark out. They listen to Rubber Soul as they drive, sometimes chatting, sometimes singing along, until Z starts to slow down, and Ryan realizes they’ve arrived.

Z hadn’t been joking when she said it was retro. As they drive in, a kid that looks like he’s still in high school, wearing a red and white striped shirt, takes their money and hands them a card with the radio frequency on. Once they’re parked they go in search of Alex, finding him sitting on the hood of his car talking to Laena a few rows over.

“Where’s Tenn parked?” Z asks, and Laena points out a small, red convertible. Annie’s stretched out on the back seat, her legs hanging over the side of the car, talking to Tennessee who seems to be trying to climb _over_ the windscreen.

“If Tennessee breaks her neck, I’m not taking her to the hospital,” Alex says, rolling his eyes, and Ryan can tell he’s only half joking.

Tennessee _does_ fall off the car, but she gets up again straight away, brushing herself down and smiling brightly at them as she wanders over.

“Hi,” she says, sharing cheek kisses with Z and punching Alex in the arm. “I’m going to the snack bar, anyone want anything?”

“Popcorn,” Z says at the same time Alex says, “Beer.” Laena just shakes her head.

“Cool,” Tennessee says, and then grabs Ryan’s arm as she walks past. “Come on Ryan Ross, you’re helping.”

Tennessee doesn’t talk much as they walk, but it’s not uncomfortable or weird, and Ryan finds himself taking in the environment and listening to the sounds her dress makes as it swishes around her legs. He lets Tennessee order when they reach the counter, and then hands over the cash to pay for it all before she can reach for her purse, giving her a small, embarrassed smile when she looks at him in wide eyed surprise. Between them they just about manage to get everything back in one piece, except for a minor spillage that leaves one of the sodas half full, and when Tennessee hands that cup to Alex, telling him mournfully about the lack of alcohol on sale, she sends a wink in Ryan’s direction.

Annie’s migrated cars, and she and Laena are now sprawled out next to Alex on his hood. Ryan’s thinking about where to sit when Z and Tennessee each grab one of his sleeves and pull him over to Tennessee’s car, talking happily about how amazing Cary Grant is all the while. He ends up between them both on the backseat, stretching out as much as he can within the tight space so he can see the screen, and listening to the girls debate Alfred Hitchcock over his head until the trailers start.

When Tennessee moves to put her feet up over the seat in front, the top of her leg presses more firmly against Ryan’s, her dress slipping down so it rests on her thighs, and it’s not indecent but Ryan can feel himself flushing anyway, and he’s just really glad it’s dark so no one can tell.

 

+

 

Ryan’s frustrated; he’s had a line stuck in his head for hours but no matter how hard he tries he can’t get it to sound right out in the open. He’s just about ready to throw his guitar at the wall when the doorbell rings.

“Z had to go to dinner with her dad,” Tennessee says as soon as he opens the door, “but I think she’s on some sort of personal mission to give you something to do every day, so she sent me ‘round with Chinese and movies.”

“Okay?” he says, and follows her into the living room where she immediately drops down onto the couch, pulling out cartons of take-out and spreading them out over the coffee table.

“Cool. The food’s all vegetarian, that’s okay, right?”

“Yeah,” he says, and goes to get cutlery from the kitchen, sending Z a brief _?????_ via text. His phone beeps with a smiley face ten seconds later and he rolls his eyes.

Tennessee’s kicked off her shoes when he gets back, her legs curled up under her, and she’s wrinkling her nose contemplatively at a carton of noodles but smiles brightly when she sees him. He hands her a fork and then sits down next to her.

“ _The Fifth Element_ or _Quadrophenia_?” she asks, holding up the cases and biting her lip as if the question is baffling.

“ _The Fifth Element_ ,” he says after a moments pause, and she nods approvingly at the consideration he’s given it. “I need some Milla Jovovich and Gary Oldman in my life right now.”

“Fair enough,” she says, and passes him the DVD.

Tennessee matches him bite for bite as they work their way through the food, and it’s gone in no time. At one point Ryan gets up and brings them back cans of soda, but mostly they just sit side by side and watch the movie.

It’s not until the film’s finished and they’ve switched over to a rerun of _Ugly Betty_ on abc that Ryan remembers he was having a bad day.

 

+

 

“You stuck your best friend on me,” Ryan says to Z two days later as they shop.

“Pfft,” Z says, eyeing up a bright red coat. “I did _not_. Sticking her on you would imply you didn’t enjoy her company.”

Ryan’s silent, and when Z looks up at him her eyes are glittering.

“I just passed another test, didn’t I?” he says, and Z smiles.

“Hmm,” she says noncommittally, but the look she gives him suggests she knows something he doesn’t.

Ryan gets the feeling his friendship with Z is always going to be a little bit like that.

 

+

 

His time becomes split between Z and Tennessee, and he never knows which one is going to show up on his doorstep or call him at some stupid hour of the morning. Sometimes they show up together and drag him off to the zoo or the beach or, on one memorable occasion, Disneyland. Alex wearing Pluto ears and fighting with a seven year old over Goofy’s autograph will never not be one of Ryan’s absolute favorite memories.

Even though he’s barely alone these days, he finds it easier to write, jotting notes down on paper napkins or the back of his hand, and it’s a physical relief to feel his ideas coming together.

Jon comes to stay for a bit on a Tuesday, Cassie in tow, and Ryan almost forgets to pick them up from the airport until Z replies to one of his texts asking if he should really be on his phone whilst he’s driving.

He’s only a little late, and Jon just laughs, handing Ryan a Starbucks cup and hugging him tightly.

“Hi,” he says when they pull apart, and Jon smiles, big and real.

“Hi,” he replies, and Ryan can feel the last tight band around his chest loosening.

“So,” Cassie says, when she finally gets her own hug, “I hear you’ve become all busy and social recently.”

Ryan ducks his head, laughs a little, and then realizes that neither of them has met Z or Tennessee. Laena or Annie. It’s weird.

“Yeah,” he says eventually, smiling widely. “I’ll introduce you to everyone later. You’ll love them.”

 

+

 

Ryan’s right.

They meet everyone for dinner at a Thai restaurant and Jon and Cassie fit right it. Alex greets Jon with a hug and introduces him to the girls who treat Jon like an old friend and welcome Cassie like a potential new one.

“Say thank you,” Z says quietly when he sits down next to her, and Ryan rolls his eyes.

“Thank you,” he says, and Z pats his leg.

“You’re welcome. Also, you should really invest in a calendar. I’m just saying.”

“Doesn’t work,” Ryan says. “I just forget to fill stuff in.”

“Okay,” she says, and he can tell she’s biting back a laugh, “invest in a personal assistant then.”

“I’ll be your personal assistant if you’d like,” Tennessee says, leaning over the table from her place opposite Ryan, and he realizes that everyone’s listening in. “As long as it fits in around the whole being in a band thing.”

Alex snorts. “Yeah, and then Ryan really won’t ever get where he’s meant to be.”

Tennessee gives him a mock glare, and straightens her shoulders. “I am not _that_ bad, thank you.”

“No, Tenn,” Z says with a grin, “you’re worse.”

As the girls break out into a debate over Tennessee’s absentmindedness, Jon catches Ryan’s eye and sends him a look that says _I approve_ and _this is going to be fun_ , and Ryan can only smile happily back.

 

+

 

Z’s persuaded Michael to host some old-fashioned garden party and they’re all invited. Jon and Cassie get really into the idea, dressing up and speaking like they’re stuck in the wrong century, and Ryan isn’t sure whether he wants to laugh at them or join in. He wears a suit even though it’s summer in L.A. and digs out the broken pocket watch he picked up at a yard sale over a year ago.

There are already people swarming about when they arrive, most of whom Ryan doesn’t know, and he can hear the faint sounds of jazz music coming from out back. Jon and Cassie head off to deposit the case of beer they brought, and Ryan starts looking for someone he recognizes.

He’s almost reached the kitchen when Tennessee appears in front of him, her bottom lip caught between her teeth, staring at his neck in a way that makes him vaguely uncomfortable until he remembers that, no, she’s not a vampire and he really shouldn’t watch _Buffy_ before bed.

“Your tie’s all screwy,” she says, reaching out and pulling up his collar, her fingers undoing the knot and then redoing it, and he stands perfectly still until she’s done, flattening it with her palm and smiling in accomplishment. “That’s better.”

“Thanks,” he says, the words catching a little in his throat, but she’s already walking away, getting lost in the crowd.

He’s feeling strange, like there’s an itch under his skin that he can’t quite reach, so he finds Jon and Cassie, stays with them where it’s comfortable and familiar and he feels almost like himself. He keeps his eyes firmly on their faces or the drink in his hand, and listens to them talk about Clover’s latest antics and Tom’s newest photography project. He takes the cocktail stick out of his drink and eats the pineapple and thinks _I can get through this._ He doesn’t know why it’s even an issue.

“Are you alright?” Cassie asks when he’s apparently been silent for too long, and Ryan has to remind himself that he’s known her as long as Jon even though it’s _not fair_ that she should be able to tell these things.

“I’m fine,” he says, rolling his cocktail stick between his fingers absently, and it’s mostly true. It’s nothing he could explain anyway.

Jon looks at him through narrowed eyes for a moment and then throws back his head and laughs until Cassie knocks him with her elbow, impatiently waiting to be let in on the joke.

“I’ve seen Ryan like this before,” Jon explains, and he sounds far too amused for Ryan to be anything but daunted. “Avoiding eye contact and getting all jittery and quiet and far away and not even rolling his eyes once at a twenty minute conversation about the cats. He’s in love.”

“What?” Ryan says, because seriously, _what?_

Cassie’s eyes widen and then she laughs and looks over towards the drinks table, her mouth curving into a knowing smile. Ryan follows her line of sight and then frowns because the only person there is Z, topping her glass up with some brightly colored concoction and watching Alex try and balance grapes on his nose across the garden.

 _No, no, no,_ he thinks, vehemently. _That’s wrong!_

The realization is enough to make him freeze for a moment before his eyes begin to scan the crowd.

Tennessee’s sitting on the patio wall, kicking her feet back and forth, and she’s listening to something Annie’s saying, a bright yellow flower in her hair. Her dress fans out around her legs as she moves and she looks like she could have been pulled straight from the pages of a Lewis Carroll novel. When she smiles Ryan can see her face light up from all the way across the garden.

 _Yes_ , he thinks, and then _oh shit._

He blinks, and when he opens his eyes Jon and Cassie are still looking smug, like they know some great secret, and Ryan wants to shake them, turn them physically around and point at Tennessee and say _Look, look! That’s her!_

Except he doesn’t know when it happened, _how_ it happened, and he’s completely fucking terrified, so instead he rolls his eyes and pays extra close attention to his drink until it’s time to leave.

 

+

 

Jon and Cassie leave again two days later, Jon promising to be back within the month so they can really get to work, and Ryan goes home after he’s waved them goodbye and turns his phone off for the next twenty-four hours so he can freak out in peace.

Which would be a lot more affective if he hadn’t given Alex a key.

“Apparently my roof has a hole in it and when it rained a few weeks ago the attic flooded. Which I didn’t realize until the giant dark patches started appearing on my ceiling,” he says as he lets himself in, dropping a duffel bag next to the couch.

“Which he totally thought were signs his house was haunted,” Z says, following Alex in and grinning. “I took away his _Supernatural_ box set.”

“So,” Ryan says, lifting his head up from the cushion he’d buried it in sometime this morning, “you’re staying here until it’s fixed?”

Alex nods. “Yeah, if that’s okay.”

Ryan sighs. So much for freaking out in peace. “Sure.” He turns to Z. “And you’re here because…?”

“Because I want to know why you’ve been avoiding me,” she says, sitting on the arm of the couch.

Ryan pouts and really, really hopes that, despite evidence to the contrary, Z can’t read minds.

“I’m not avoiding you,” he says, and then stares at her with wide, innocent eyes until she rolls her own and looks away.

“Fine,” she says, “but you have two guest rooms, right? I’m taking the other one for a few nights. It’ll be fun. We can pretend we’re all in a sitcom.”

“Great,” Ryan says, and then glares when Z just laughs at his sarcasm.

“I’m going to go make sure Alex doesn’t take the best room,” she says, standing up and straightening her skirt. “As you were.”

Ryan groans, and buries his head in his cushion.

 

+

 

Ryan’s sitting with his back against the couch seriously debating the merits of _Back to the Future_ versus _The Goonies_ when Z finds him again.

“It has been implied,” she says, dropping down next to him and stretching out her legs, “that you are in love with me.”

Ryan stares at her with wide eyes, and has to resist the urge to splutter embarrassingly whilst she watches him out of the corner of her eye before collapsing into a fit of giggles and leaving him shell-shocked.

“What the hell?” he says eventually, and he swears he stopped blushing at seventeen. It’s entirely unfair that he should start again now.

“I just thought I should let you know,” Z says eventually, holding an arm to her stomach as if she’s actually _hurting_ from the need to laugh. “Apparently Jon and Cassie are coming down again for the weekend soon? They just called and wanted to know if, whilst they were here, we’d like to join them for dinner somewhere requiring a reservation. Also, there could have been mention of how much Cassie was looking forward to getting to know me properly. Which is very sweet of her, only I think she may have been offended when I snorted down the phone line.”

Ryan resists the urge to begin banging his head against the floor and instead rubs at his temples fruitlessly.

“I’m not in love with you,” he says, trying to keep his voice at least somewhat in control. And then, “Sorry,” just in case it came out rudely.

Z pats him on the arm and sighs dramatically.

“I know,” she says. “It would be pretty strange considering the heart eyes you’ve had for my best friend the last few months.”

“Oh God,” Ryan says and this time gives in, letting his head drop onto the carpet with a thud. “How did you _know_ that? And also, heart eyes, _what the actual fuck?_ ”

“Yes,” Z says with a solemn nod and then shuffles down and rests her head on her arms so they’re eye level. “ _Heart eyes_. Big ones. It’s pretty adorable.”

“Aglsjk,” Ryan says into the carpet.

“Exactly.”

“What do I do?” he says when he can bring himself to look up again.

“Well, you can either continue going about things the way you are, which is very sweet and all but unless you don’t want to have sex again until you’re _fifty_ I wouldn’t suggest it, _or_ you can tell Tenn that you think she’s made of sunshine and rainbows and, I don’t know, _puppies_ or whatever, and the two of you can live happily ever after the end.” Z’s smile becomes somewhat dangerous when she adds, “And if you hurt her everyone will think what happened to you was a tragic accident.”

Ryan’s totally not scared, not even a little bit, but he nods anyway because Z’s pretty imaginative and, well, _Laena_ scares him, so...

“Okay,” he says after a few minutes. “I have no idea _how_ to be with Tennessee. I mean, if she even wants me. She’s…not like anyone I’ve ever dated, anyone I’ve ever _met_ , and I totally have a type for a reason, you know?”

Z laughs a little, but it’s not condescending or mean so Ryan lets it slide, waits for her advice.

“Tenn’s all about honesty,” she says eventually. “She’d rather you be upfront about something than skirt around the issue. She’s the most optimistic person I know, so it won’t even cross her mind that something may not work out. Just…if you make her happy, and if she sees that she makes _you_ happy, then that’ll pretty much be enough for her, you know?”

“Yeah?” he says, and maybe Z just knows him really well already, or maybe something comes across in his voice, because she reaches between them and tangles their fingers together.

“Yeah. It really can be that simple. Apparently. So I’ve heard.”

“You and I are kind of alike, aren’t we?” Ryan says, squeezing her hand gently.

“Except I’m prettier and can actually sing,” she says and then bumps their shoulders so he knows she’s joking.

“I’m not so sure about prettier…” he says, and she snorts.

They stay like that until Alex walks in an hour later, climbing over them to get to the TV remote, and unapologetically kicking Ryan in the face.

“What’s up, freaks?” he says, and then announces a Call of Duty free-for-all that distracts them until way into the night.

 

+

 

The thing is, he’s never exactly been smooth with women, but he’s never really needed to be. Mostly they decide they like _him_ and then flirt until he realizes. When he has been the one to do the chasing he’s been able to use the whole ‘I’m in a band’ thing, or just appealed to their sex drive. Neither of which would work in this case.

When they’re out as a group he sits as close to Tennessee as he can, leaning in to talk to her and touching her in little ways until he manages to knock over a water jug and soak the entire table.

When they talk on the phone, Ryan makes sure to ask her questions about her day and makes all the right, _interested_ noises at her answers until she asks if he’s okay ‘cause he sounds a little like he has a stomachache.

Eventually Z takes pity on him.

“First of all,” she says, hands on her hips, “I am cancelling your subscription to _Cosmo_ because clearly it is _not helping_. And secondly, have you considered maybe just asking Tenn out?”

“Um,” Ryan says.

“That’s what I thought. Seriously, it baffles me how you’ve ever got anyone to _sleep_ with you, let alone _date_ you. You’re going to give Tennessee a call and invite her out to dinner and a movie.”

“Now?” Ryan says as Z hands him his cell.

“Now,” she says, giving him one last pointed look before making what Ryan feels is a rather overly dramatic exit.

The sounds of the phone ringing seems to last forever before Tennessee picks up, the last rise and fall of a laugh echoing from wherever she is, and Ryan has to remind himself to breathe.

“Ryan!” she says cheerfully, and he sorts of loves the way she sounds so happy to hear from him and hates himself for being so soppy all at once.

“Hey Tennessee,” he says, and then bites the bullet before he loses his nerve altogether. “Do you maybe want to hang out tonight? Dinner and a movie?” He says it in a rush, his words bleeding into each other, and for a moment he’s terrified he’s going to have to repeat himself.

“Sure,” she says, easily.

“Okay, awesome. I’ll, um, pick you up at seven?” Ryan says, grabbing a pen and writing _seven, seven, seven_ all over his arm so there’s no chance he’ll forget.

“See you then,” Tennessee says before hanging up, and Ryan lets out the breath he’s been holding.

He jumps when someone starts clapping, and turns his head to see Z and Alex both leaning in the doorway looking way too amused.

“Good boy,” Z says. “Also, you do know that pen’s permanent, right?”

Ryan gives her the finger.

 

+

 

It’s a disaster.

Ryan’s late because he spends way too long trying to scrub the ink from his arm, and by the time he finally makes it to Tennessee’s they’ve already missed their reservation. He’s getting ready to do some major groveling when the door opens and it’s Laena, smiling at him casually and calling back into the house.

“We were thinking Indian food,” she says as she moves towards his car and opens the back door. “Annie has a craving for korma. Also, there’s a place near mine that’s showing _Breakfast at Tiffany’s_ later. What do you think?”

“Um,” he says, because he’s pretty sure he’s about to start hyperventilating.

“Hey,” Tennessee says, following Annie out and smiling at Ryan cheerfully. “Z and Alex not coming?”

“No,” Ryan says when he can get finally get the words out. “No, they had, you know, other plans.”

Tennessee shrugs. “Cool.”

Ryan drives them to the restaurant, following Annie’s directions, and then spends most of the meal sitting quietly and wondering what the hell happened.

His phone buzzes as they’re ordering dessert with a message from Z.

 _How’s the date going?_

 _Great_ , he sends back, hoping the sarcasm comes across even on screen. _Also, Laena and Annie say hi._

He only has to wait nine seconds before she texts back _Fuck!_ and then _Where are you guys?_

She meets them at the movie theatre, Alex in tow, looking more than a little apologetic.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispers as they take their seats. “I should have made sure the others knew what was happening. Tenn can be kind of…oblivious sometimes.”

“Yeah, well,” he whispers back as Tennessee sits down on his other side, her arm brushing lightly against his, “still not the worst date I’ve been on.”

 

+

 

Ryan spends the next three days hiding out in his room, only surfacing to eat and walk Hobo, and ignoring Z’s pointed looks.

“It’s not that bad,” she says, cornering him in the kitchen whilst he’s waiting for his soup to heat through. “You could always just ask again.”

“Go away,” he says. “No, seriously, don’t you have your own place?”

“You can’t actually stay holed up in here forever you know,” she says, ignoring him.

“Who says?” he pouts, pouring the soup into a bowl and wriggling around her, pretending he can’t see the way she’s rolling her eyes.

“The two of you are as bad as each other,” she calls after him, and then mumbles something that he really hopes isn’t, “I have to fix _everything_.”

 

+

 

He’s sitting outside, sorting through his notebooks of lyrics, when the door slides open and Tennessee walks out. She’s wearing socks up to her knees and a dress that looks like a nightie, and her oversized sunglasses are perched on top of her head.

“So,” she says, sitting down next to him on the sun lounger, “Z says you like me.”

Ryan snorts, because _duh_ , and then decides that it’s really a shame he’s going to have to kill Z painfully. “Yeah,” he says. “Just a little.”

“Oh.”

Tennessee plays with the hem of her skirt for a while, staring out across the pool, and Ryan can see the way her skin’s beginning to flush. From embarrassment or heat he doesn’t know.

“So the other day was supposed to be a date?” she says eventually, and Ryan kind of wants to die.

“Yeah.”

“Sorry,” she says, shrugging her shoulders awkwardly. “I can be pretty obtuse sometimes.”

“It’s okay.”

She turns to look at him then, resting her head in her hand and letting her eyes wander over his face. He stays as still as he can, only facing her when she leans around to catch his eye.

When she kisses him it’s not a surprise but his heart skips a beat anyway.

Her lips aren’t as soft as he’d imagined, and it’s almost chaste the way her mouth is pressed lightly against the corner of his.

He can’t breathe.

When she pulls back her smile is blinding. “I like you, too,” she says. “Just a little.”

Ryan’s pretty sure his cheeks are going to hurt before long, but he leans forward anyway, pressing his own smile against hers quickly.

“So,” he says, and they’re close enough he can feel her breath on his cheek. “Will you go on a date with me? A real one this time?”

“Yes,” she says, laughing softly. “I will.”

“Good,” he says. “Great. Awesome.”

His phone buzzes next to his hand and he ignores it; he’s pretty sure it’s just going to be a _You owe me one_ from Z, and he’ll happily hand her the world right about now even without the reminder.

“Good,” Tennessee echoes, tilting forward so their lips are so, _so_ close. “Great. Awesome.”

Ryan closes the distance, beaming.


End file.
